Mri Sequence Evaluation for Non-Invasive Biometry of Spinal Structures

To determine clinical acquisition sequences allowing best visual identification of skin, fat, vertebrae and mus- cles, magnetic resonance images (MRI) of 81 scoliotic patients were reviewed. Three investigators rated the contrast of all images. Each sequence provided accept- able results for skin and subcutaneous fat. Fast spin echo sequence was found more appropriate for verte- brae and spin echo provided the best contrast between muscles. Subcutaneous fat thickness was found to influ- ence the level of contrast in MRI of the back.